If the title of Marty Beckerman's latest book doesn't clue you in on where he's coming from, he erases any doubt with the first sentence. "Opinions are like genitals: if you force others to swallow yours, something is seriously wrong with you."
Since Dumbocracy: Adventures with the Loony Left, the Rabid Right, and Other American Idiots lays out plenty of opinions, Beckerman may well be saying there's also something seriously wrong with him. To describe the book as snarky would be an understatement. A self-described "professional asshole," Beckerman's tone brings to mind more war-oriented phrases, like search and destroy or scorched earth policy. All this, of course, with a heavy dose of sardonic humor.
Beckerman's attack isn't on the mainstream. The people and organizations most often in his sights are the true believers, the hard core on both the left and right, the extremists. In search and destroy mode, Dumbocracy explores how dyed-in-the-wool believers see only black and white and then pinpoints facts and statistics showing the fallacies and dangers of many absolutist positions. Beckerman's detailed marshaling of facts — the book contains more than 800 endnotes documenting the sources of his factual statements — helps justify his tone.
The 25-year-old Beckerman is an equal opportunity insurrectionist, blasting away at both left and right. For example, President Bush is invariably called "King Retard" while former President Clinton is "President Blow Job." And Beckerman is apparently as audacious in person. When he overhears former Education Secretary William Bennett, who lost millions gambling in Las Vegas, say he is rooting for a particular college basketball team in an upcoming game, Beckerman asks Bennett if he wants to bet on it. That's just the tip of his scorched earth approach, which permeates both his empirical and satirical attacks.
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